What will Kentucky Book Festival visitors find on your table?

Zelda Popkin: The Life and Times of an American Jewish Woman Writer is a story of American life in the 20^th century.  It’s the story of a young woman from an immigrant community who came of age just as women got the right to vote, who had a professional career when most women stayed home, and who became a bestselling author whose books grappled with themes such as the impact of war, the experience of widowhood, the Holocaust, and the creation of the state of Israel.  It’s also the story of my own grandmother, a woman whose strong personality shaped several generations of my family.

A New World Begins: The Story of the French Revolution plunges readers into the drama of the French Revolution, the event that shaped modern ideas about liberty, equality, and democracy throughout the world. Drawing on a lifetime of research and teaching about the subject,  University of Kentucky history professor Jeremy Popkin, brings alive the full range of personalities involved in the Revolution, including Mirabeau, Robespierre, Marie-Antoinette, Toussaint Louverture and Napoleon.

Whom do you invite to stop by? Who will benefit from reading your book?

Zelda Popkin has special appeal for readers interested in women’s lives, Jewish history, and the history of American life in the 20^th century.  A New World Begins is for history buffs and those interested in the origins of modern democratic institutions throughout the world.

Could you please tell us something curious about you and/or your book?

My grandmother, Zelda Popkin, encouraged me to write.  I doubt that she ever dreamed that I would write a whole book about her!

Is this your first time participating in Kentucky Book Festival? If yes – what are you looking forward to the most? If you’ve participated before – what was your favorite experience at the Festival?

I enjoyed talking to potential readers at the Kentucky Book Festival, learning about their interests, and trying to persuade them that they would enjoy my work. I also enjoyed getting to know my fellow Kentucky authors, who come from a wide range of backgrounds and have an amazing array of interests.

Jeremy Popkin, a long-time history professor at the University of Kentucky, turns his research and writing skills to the story of his grandmother, Zelda Popkin, a journalist, public relations woman and novelist who took part in and wrote about all the big issues of her time, including women’s rights, the Holocaust, and the creation of the Jewish state of Israel.